Casper the Friendly Ghost

Casper the Friendly Ghost wasn't a band, it was a gimmick that actually managed to manifest as a 7-inch vinyl release on Peter Pan Records in '75. You're looking at a budget label that specialized in selling cheap plastic to kids, but the session work on these children's records was often handled by stone-cold pros who could read charts in their sleep. It's essentially a work-for-hire gig that exists because the Harvey Comics brand needed to squeeze every nickel out of the IP. The 1975 release isn't some lost psychedelic masterpiece—it's a collection of songs and stories designed to keep a toddler quiet for ten minutes. But look closer at those Peter Pan credits and you'll find guys who played on actual jazz dates or Broadway pits just trying to make rent. It’s the ultimate example of the mid-70s obsession with branding everything that could be pressed into wax, even if the 'artist' was a literal cartoon ghost with no corporeal form to hold an instrument.

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